1.3 Drifting Continents



Vocabulary



Pangaea-means "all land"-a supercontinent that existed 300 million years ago
continental drift- the movement of continents over time
fossil-trace of an ancient organism that has been preserved in rock

Outline:



Summary

  • Africa and South America looks like they fit together

The Theory of Continental Drift

  • 1910-Alfred Wegener
    • hypothesis of single landmass/Pangaea
    • supported ideas with study of landforms, fossils, and climate

Evidence from Landforms

  • used mountain of South America and Africa

Evidence from Fossils

  • common fossils found on different continents

Evidence from Climates

  • continents today have very different climate from millions of years ago

Scientists Reject Wegener's Theory

  • Wegener didn't have proof of HOW continents drifted
  • needed new and more explanations with how landforms had formed